Hair dyeing composition and method



Patented June 20, 1939 UNITED STATES HAIR. DYEING COMPOSITION AND METHODWolf Kritchevsky, Chicago, 111., assignor to Kit Products Corporation,Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing.

14 Claims.

My invention relates to the coloring of hair.

4 It relates more in particular to a method of and materials forcoloring human hair on human heads.

6 The concept of dyeing hair is in general an extremely old one.Although many different types of dyes have been and are used at thepresent time for dyeing hair, most of them used up to the present timehave been unsatisfactory 10 from one of several standpoints. Theconventional hair dye employs inorganic salts, usually lead or silversalts, which produce the desired shades by forming sulphides or oxides.This type of dye is unsatisfactory, because it is poisonous and,secondly, because it produces unnatural shades. Actually, this form ofdye coats the ,hair rather than dyes it, and so it will be substantiallyimpossible to obtain suitable effects by the use of dyes of thischaracter.

There are a number of organic base dyes now being sold commercially withfair satisfaction to obtain suitable colors and natural appearance indyeing of human hair. But heretofore most of the dyes of this class havebeen found to be poisonous and so should not be used on the hair forthat reason. Dyes of this class, of which para-phenylenediamine andpara-amidophenol may be taken as examples, are applied to the hair withhydrogen peroxide or other oxidizing agent which oxidizes the bases toform colored compounds having a wide variety of shades. The poisonouscharacter of these dyes manifests itself in general by getting into theblood stream and reducing the blood'and by, forming rashes on the skin.While every user of this class of dye does not feel the effects. ofpoison, the proportionate number of users directly affected issufliciently high to make these dyes very unsatisfactory.

40 A number of coal tar dyes are known which are non-poisonousand whichmay be used very satisfactorily to dye human hair ifthe dyeing iscarried on at an elevated temperature. In view of the fact that haircannot be dyed in situ at a temperature high enough to be uncomfortableto the head, and since, further, conditions are not V such as to permitthe use of large concentrations of alkali or acid, which otherwise couldbe used to produce proper results, the non-poisonous coal tar dyes havenot been used to any great extent.

They will color the hair, but substantially only a surface coating ofthe color is applied and this will wash off quite readily, leaving thehair without dye.

66 The object of my invention to overcome the Application February 7,1938, Serial No. 189,168

objections found in the use of hair dyes known heretofore.

Another object is the provision of means for coloring the hairwith anatural appearingdye which is not too readily removed and which is 5non-poisonous. v

Another object is the provision of means for dyeing the hair which canbe made available to ordinary users and which can be used by the personof ordinary intelligence and experience in 10 dyeing. v

In carrying out my invention, I have made the discovery that if aproportion of urea, or certain derivatives of urea as hereinafter fullydescribed,

is employed with a dye, that dye can be used" much more satisfactorilyfor coloring the human hair due to the presence and action of the ureaor derivative thereof. A number of advantages attend the use of the ureaor derivatives thereof but, in general, these may be, classified as the20 ability to dye at a lower temperature, the production of a, fasterand more permanent color on the hair, and the possibility of using dyesfor coloring the hair which heretofore were entirely unsatisfactory forthe purpose. .Adherence is 25 better, evener, more natural appearing,and in other ways more satisfactory final results are obtained. Whilethe urea or its derivatives may be used with any type of dye which canbe used to dye the hair, the invention makes possible the 30 selectionof dyes which in themselves are nonirritating to the skin andnon-poisonous to the human body. The urea or itsderivatives does notaffect the toxicity of the dye; in other words, if a normallynon-toxicdye is used, it will be 35 non-toxic in the presence of theurea or its derivatives.

My invention obviously does not concern itself with the use of anyparticular types of dyes. I

- may accordingly use any suitable coal tar dye, 4o

vegetable dye or dye of animal origin. The dye may be syntheticallyprepared or it may be a natural dye; acid, direct and basic dyes producesatisfactory results whether they belong to the azo group, anthraquinone,group,'triphenylmeth- 45 ane group, etc.

Although aqueous solutions have been referred to, it is by no meansnecessary that the hair be dyed with a water solution of the dye. Nnaqueous solvents may be used where and if in- 50 dicated and the ureaor its derivatives will 1'' nction effectively as a hair dyeingassistant. 5

The dye composition employed may, in addition to the dye proper andureaor its derivatives, contain ingredients like diluents, salt, sugar, as-66 in which case B and R a While numerous examples may be given ofsistants, water proofing agents, flxatives, and the like, now used inthe dyeing industries. Gums can also be used which are soluble in ureaor its derivatives or in the solvent used with the dye. Gums may be usedin such a manner as to form a coating on the hair along with the dye, sothat upon drying the coating becomes substantially insoluble. Smallproportions of gum damar, rezyls, .glyptals, urea resins, etc., can beused.

The hair dye composition may be made in the form of a powder, cake orstick, to be dissolved in water or other solvent, or in the form of asolution or paste. So far as the present invention is concerned, thismay be considered a matter of convenience not affecting the resultsobtained'by the combination of the dye and urea or its derivatives.

The chemical compounds which I employ herein are characterized by thepresence of the functional group I N =C/ and, in general, fall withinthe scope of the formula 1 tives or substitution products such ashalogen,

hydroxy and the like. R. and B may be the same radical or they may bedifferent radicals. In its simplest form, the compound is urea arehydrogen.

chemical compounds which may be employed in admixture with the organicdyes, the following illustrative examples will be suflicient:

canon NIP-C4110 NIH-04H.

While urea itself is useful for my present purposes, I have found thaturea derivatives of the type where R and R are in part at least alkylgroups which contain not more than four carbon atoms are unusuallysuitable for my present purposes and I have found the monoalkylderivatives such as represented by compounds 14, 15 and 16 to beespecially satisfactory.

A solvent for the dye should be employed in which the urea or derivativethereof is soluble. Normally, water is preferably employed althoughother solvents in which urea or its derivatives is soluble may beemployed such as ethyl alcohol or other organic solvents or mixturesthereof with water. a

The urea or derivative thereof may be used in proportions varying from1% to n even higher on the basis of the solvent employed. The amount ofdye used may range from a fraction of 1% of the solvent up to 10% andmore, depending upon the density of the shade desired. When solidpreparations are produced, and merchandised as such, they can be made upeither of the dye and urea or derivative thereof alone, or mixtures ofthe dye, urea or derivative thereof and salt, sugar, Glaubers salt, orother organic or inorganic salt, gum, water-proofing agent, diluent,fixative, and the like, used when dyeing. For the preparation of packagedye compositions or the like in dry, powdered form. an urea derivativeshould be employed which does not melt below about 55 degrees C. inorder to insure that the product will remain. in powder form even underunusually high temperature conditions due to weather or storageconditions.

Mechanics of the method consist of dissolvlng the hair dye compositionin water or other solvent to make a solution of suitable strength,depending upon the shade desired. This solution is applied tothe hairwith a brush, sponge, or by other means of contact, such as dippinguntil the hair is properly saturated with the solution. The temperaturemaybe modified somewhat to suit the particular dye used, but it shouldnot be sufllciently high to be markedly uncomfortable to the head. Theproduct can be made in the form of a paste which can be put on the headas a pack. Whatever the means of application, the dye solution should beallowed to dry completely and the hair then thoroughly rinsed with warmwater. After-this, the hair is dried again. As an example of the use ofmy invention, the following compositions may be considered.

For blond hair:

Parts Compound 15 10 Cupranll Brown C. I. 560 1 The above to bedissolved in 89 parts of water.

For reddish brown hair:

Parts Compound 14 1 10 Direct Brown G X C. I; 606 1 Cupranil Brown B. C.I. 560 1 Pontacyl Black R X C. I. 289 5 This is dissolved in'a suitableamount of water depending upon the shade desired, 87.5 parts of watergiving a medium shade.

- While most of the examples given are used in water solution,compositions are readily made for use with a mixture of water andorganic solvents, or for use with pure organic solvents.

It should be understood that the invention is not limited to use withany particular class of dyes or with anyparticular process; Any dyesuitable for the purpose can be use with the urea or derivatives thereofand, when applied to the hair in the form of a solution orpaste, willproduce a hair coloring of greatly improved character. While myinvention does not, in general, contemplate the use of toxic dyes on thehuman head due to their deleterious 'exect upon body tissue,nevertheless urea and its derivatives, when used in accordance with myinvention, will improve the action of such dyes when used in hairdyeing.

Whenever the term hair is employed in the claims, it will be understoodto mean hair on the human head.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. The method of dyeing hair which comprises treating the hair with acomposition including an organic dye and a chemical having the nucleus3. The method of dyeing hair which comprises 15 treating the hair with acompositionincluding an organic dye having an acidic group and achemical having the general formula 20 0=c I H wherein R and R arehydrogen, organic hydrocarbon radicals or derivatives thereof. 25 4. Themethod of dyeing hair which comprises treating the hair with acomposition including an organic dye having an acidic group and achemical having the general formula wherein R and R are members selectedfrom the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, cyclo- 35 alkyl,aryl,.aralkyl, alkylol, aralkylol, and derivatives thereof.

5. The method of dyeing hair which comprises treating the hair with acomposition including a water-soluble organic dye and a chemical com- 0pound, having a melting point not substantially less than 55 degrees 0.,corresponding to the general formula I wherein R and R are membersselected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl,aralkvl, alkylol, aralkylol, and derivatives thereof.

6. A hair dyeing composition comprising an organic dye and a chemicalcompound having the nucleus 7. A hair dyeing composition comprising anorganic dye and a chemical compound corresponding to the general formula69 I NR:

wherein R and R are hydrogen, organic hydrocarbon radicals orderivatives thereof.

I 8. A hair dyeing composition comprising a water-soluble organic dyeanda chemical'compound corresponding to the general formula wherein R and Rare members selected from 75 the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl,cycloaikyi, aryl, araib'l, aligyloi, aralkylol, and derivatives thereof.

9. A hair dyeing composition comprising a water-soluble organic dye anda chemical compound having the general formula wherein R. is an alkylradical.

10. A hair dyeing composition comprising a water-soluble organic dye anda chemical compound having the formula 11. A hair dyeing compositioncontaining a water-soluble dye, a solvent therefor, and a chemicalcompound corresponding to the general formula NR1: wherein R and R arehydrogen, organic hydrocarbon radicals or derivatives thereof, thechemical compound comprising between approximately 1% and 25% and theorganic dye comprising between about a fraction of 1% and 10%, thepercentages being by weight and based upon the amount of the solvent.

and urea.

14. A hair dyeing composition comprising a dry mixture including atleast one innocuous water-soluble coal tar dye and urea, the urea beingpresent in amounts in excess of that of the dye.

WOLF KRITCHEVSKY.

